April 1953 to August 1962
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
G-AMOB - c/n 11 - a V.701 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
27 March 1953
Registered to British European Airways Corporation (BEA), Keyline House, Ruislip, Middlesex.
3 April 1953
Engine ground running commenced.
10 April 1953
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.
It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.
22 April 1953
Certificate of Airworthiness issued.
24 April 1953
Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) named as 'R M A William Baffin'.
It was fitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 505 engines.
The cabin was fitted out with a 47 seat all-tourist class layout.
14 May 1953
Captain William 'Bill' Baillie flew Princess Margaret to Fornebu Airport, Oslo, Norway for the wedding of Princess Ragnhild.
17 May 1953
Return flight from Fornebu, Oslo, Norway with Princess Margaret piloted by Captain A S Johnson.
17 July 1953
Operated the first Viscount service from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Renfrew Airport, Glasgow, Scotland flown by Captain A S Johnson.
1954 to 1962
The original ‘cutlass’ design propeller blades were gradually replaced by new symmetrical ‘needle’ blade propeller sets.
From photographic evidence, both propeller types were fitted to Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3, Mark 505 and Mark 506 engines and many aircraft flew with an ‘intermix’ of both types of propeller blades.
13 December 1954
Overran the runway at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England during an aborted takeoff due to a jammed control column with the subsequent collapse of the undercarriage.
Cause: Detailed examination of the cockpit disclosed that one of the anti-vibration mountings for the starboard instrument panel had been fitted the wrong way round,
and that the attachment bolt was bent sufficiently to prevent the securing knob from holding the panel and mounting together firmly as one unit.
This allowed the panel to drop, and the stop brackets on the control column became trapped behind the panel edge causing the controls to jam.
10 January 1955
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England still in the same position after its landing incident.
Repaired and returned to service.
May 1955 to December 1956
All BEA V.701 aircraft were gradually retrofitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 506 engines which were upgraded using modified Mark 505 engines.
Aircraft are known to have flown with an ‘intermix’ of both engine marks between these dates.
When completely retro-fitted with Mark 506 engines, the Type 701A designation was applied to these aircraft although this has not been seen widely used or quoted.
3 May 1957
Operated the first Viscount service from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Valencia Airport, Spain flown by Captain A S Johnson and Captain R P Priest.
8 April 1958
Operated the first Viscount service from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Warsaw Airport, Poland.
18 February 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
BEA ‘Red Square‘ livery
March 1959
A new BEA 'Red Square' livery was adopted and aircraft were repainted during the early 1960s when they next went in for overhaul.
Sadly, after repainting, the aircraft no longer carried a name including the nameplate on the forward cabin bulkhead.
22 April 1959
Noted at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England fitted with a set of BEA designed integral front 'airsteps'.
The new 'Red Square' livery had not yet been applied to this aircraft.
4 November 1959
Last noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England.
from 1959
Converted from 40/47 seats to 60/63 seats in a new high density configuration. This modification also entailed the installation of an 11th standard size window on the rear starboard side and a small window behind the rear entrance door on the port side.
17 October 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
circa June 1962
Offered for sale for £110,000.
30 August 1962
Sold to Viação Aérea São Paulo SA (VASP).
FURTHER READING: Books about British European Airways
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